Means for producing designs upon pile fabrics.



Patented May16, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

APPLICATION FILED MAY8,1914.

W SCHNEIER `nmz/ms FOR PRODUCING DESIGNS UPON PILE FABRICS.

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W SCHNEIDER.

MEANS FOR PHODUCING DESIGNS UPON PILE FABRICS.

APPLICATION man MAY8.1914.

Patented May 16, 1916, 4 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 5'

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WILLY SCHNEIDER, OF BRIDGEPORT. CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SALTS TEX TILE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A. CORPORA TION OF CONNECTICUT.

MEANS FOR PRODUCING DESIGNS UPON PILE FABRICS.

Maaate.

Specification of Letters Patent. 'llatmtd play it@ @grigia Application filed May 8, 1914. Serial No. 837,255.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, IVILLY Scrixinorn, a subject of the Emperor of Germany. residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, liave.inv`ent ed certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Producing Designs upon Pile Fabrics, of which the following is a specifiin connection with the accompanying drawings in which- Figure l is a vertical section through a machine for winding the fabrics upon which the design or pattern is to be prioduced; Fig. 2 of a group of dies or design pieces to show the manner of placing them to produce the desired effect; and. Figs. 3 and 4 obverse and reverse sides, respectively, of the same die or design piece.

Coiled and twisted rubber in the shape of mat-like pieces have been used heretofore to produce designs or ground effects. These,

however, are expensive to make and they soon lose` their original consistency and shape because. of the heat to which they are subjected. Also being devoid of sharp edges the design or pattern is not well defined, and, furthermore, because of the material used in their manufacture, and of the manner of making them, the patterns on the two sides of the mat are substantially similar. Other mats have been made of string coiled and formed in `like manner to the rubber, and paper has been tried, but the objections to both of-these are many and obvious. They are easily deformed by the action of the moisture and heat to which the fabric is subjected, and like the rubber mats have the saine patterns on both sides. Moreover, the effect producedupon the fabric nsubstantial and in many instances barely perceptible.v

One part of my invention relates to a novel form of design piece by which the sign effects are produced. One form, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, consists of design pieces inade of sheet metal, preferably sheet brass, the blanks of which may be cut by hand, or they may be machine cut and of the saine or varying outline. Design pieces are made from the blanks by passing them between engraved male and female. rolls, or by stamping them between male and female dies.l The purpose of this part of the invention is to provide a design piece which shall be practically indestructible, inexpaiisive and capable of extreme variability of design, and one which will produce in the fabric a sharp and welledefined design. I have shown in Figs. 3 and et. the obverse. and reverse sides, respectively, of such a design piece. In both figures the countersnnk or intaglio portionsarc stippled. Thus, in Fig. 3 the projecting or relief sections l of -the design piece are the countersunk or intaglio portions on the reverse'side of the design piece shown in Fig. l. So also the. conntersunk portions Q of' Fig. 3 appear as the relief portions of Fig. The edges of the` design'pieees are relatively sharp and well defined and in practice have proved their utility and superiority over rubber and other forms of vso-called embossing mats heretofore used.

The manner of using the described design pieces to produce novel pattern effects will be understood by reference to Fig. l, in which the numeral 3 designates the frame of a machine in which is mounted a perforated metal mandrel i rotated by suitable means such as a worm wheel 5 driven by a worm 6 on the shaft of pulley 7. At one end, and near the base of the frame, is mounted a roll 8 of canvas or like material, one end of which roll is carried up over the bar 9 and thence forward to the mandrel to which it is secured. This canvas strip is stretched tight and is unrolled only when subjected to a considerable pulling force. It serves as a base or table on which is laid one of the two strips of pile fabric to be treated, said strip l0 being fed in between .the canvas strip and the mandrel with its so much thereof as is desired to be treated.

The rolling up on the mandrel 4 is'continued until the mandrel is built up, the operator placing the design pieces on the strip 10 as the Winding progresses. The layers on the mandrel are thus made up of the canvas stri andthe two pile fabrics and lbetween sai goods the dies 12, all being wound into a tight compact roll. The goods upon which -the designs are to be impressed are in a dry condition when wound upon the mandrel and the pressure to which they are .subjected causes the projecting or relief portions of the design pieces to sink into both pieces. Thus, if the design piece of Figs. 3 and 4 is placed on the strip 10 with its obverse side upward, the reverse side, shown in Fig. 4, will be in contact with strip 1 0 and the obverse side in contact with strip 11. By placing the design pieces so that ob- ,verse and reverse sides are alternately up, in

rows transversely of the strip 10, a uniformity of effectwll be produced in the two fabrics. This capability of reversing the design pieces and so producing similar effects in two'pile fabric pieces at one operation, h'as not been accomplished heretofore, so far as known to me. -It also permits a much greater variability of design, and

more natural `effects than can be producedby any of the methods heretofore used. This results from one side of the 4design piece leaving an impression whichr is clean cut andsharply defined, while the other side' leaves somewhat of a blunt impression.

Whenthe winding is completedthe mandrel is removed from the frame with the goods and the design pieces in place between the finished faces of the fabrics, and the roll isv placed in a steamer for a suflicient length of time and pressure of` steam to fix the impressions made'in the pile by the design pieces. The rol-l is then taken from the steamer, cooled and unwound when the canvas and [design pieces are ready for further use.

Fabrics thus treated, can be made attractive in design and in close imitation of natural skins, and a further distinct advane tage is that the design is firmly fixed or set and is held after long continued wear, and is not distorted or affected by weather conditions. Another advantage from a manufacturing standpoint is that two pieces of goods may be operated upon at the same time, as each design piece makes an impression upon the lower as well as the upper piece of goods.; an impression by the obverse side on one vpiece and by the reverse side on `the other piece. The lobes or lateral extensions ofthe design pieces may be made so as to produce any desired outline, and, as shown, the design is extended over both the body and lobes. It will be understood, of course, that the design contemplates not only the effect produced by the surface of the design pieces but by their outline or configuration.

If desired, the design pieces may be perforated in several places, as shown at 13 in Fi-gs. 3y and 4, to permit the escape of steam therethrough. Also, instead of an operator'placing the design pieces in position on the lower piece of goods during the winding operation, they may be fastened, as shown in Fig. 2, to a blanket 14,4 as done heretofore withmats made of strings. This saves the work of placing the design pieces by hand with each new roll.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my invention contemplates the use of a die or design piece made of material 'which ,is practically indestructible and which will retain its original configuration under conditions of heat and moisture to which it is subjected after being rolled with the pile fabric. Also one which is non-compressible and flexible so that it may readily adapt itselfl to the curvature ofthe roll,

and which will produce the same design,

without distortion, upon all convolutions of the roll. An additional advantage connected with my invention is, that a series of design pieces may be made similar, both as to outline and as to surfaces, to thereby produce on the faceof a pile fabric a uniform figure or design. Such design pieces are not only non-compressible but of a permanent shape, having the advantages above described.

As I am the first, as I believe, to make a non-compressible design piece for producing designs upon pile fabrics' and to make a 'series of such design pieces similar as to outline and as to surface; and to produce permanently shaped design pieces in duplicate, thereby obtaining on the face of a pile fabric a uniform figure or design, and to produce design pieces having complementary obverse and reverse impression surfaces, I desire to claim such features broadly without reference to the particular material of which the design piece is made, and with- `out limitation to any particular' outline or configuration, or the particular design impressed upon the surface of the.design pieces. f

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Al design piece of material which is practically indestructible under heat and moisture when used as and for the purpose described, having its edge cut to produce the desired eoniiguration on a pile fabric.

2. A relatively thin and non-compressible design piece, adapted for producing designs upon pile fabrics, having its edge cut to produce the desired configuration.

3; A relatively thinl and non-compressible 'design piece,' adapted-"for producing de signs upon pilefabrics, having its edge cut lo to produce the desired con'figuration,v and its surface efnloos'sed.l

v 4. A relatively thin, and non-compressible. design piece, .adapted for producing designs upon pile fabrics, having its edge cut 15 Vto produce the desired configuration, and

its surface embossed with complemental obverse and reverse lmpression surfaces.

y .Signedmy name inthe presence of two subvscr1b1ng Witnesses.v

5. A design piece ofrelatively thin sheet, metal having lts edge cut to producethe desired configuration and adapted'for usel in producing a design upon pile fabrics.

6. A design piece of relatively thin sheet metal having its edge cut to produce the desired configuration and its surface embossed, and adapted for use in producing a design upon pile fabrics.

ln testimony whereof' l have hereunto WILLY SCHNEIDER.-

Witnesses: y SADIE C. TooMnY, ARTHUR E. PITT. 

